Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-09-22

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

In many countries around the world, rural people are moving to cities, so the population in the countryside is decreasing.

Do you think this is a positive or a negative development?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

 

Student answer (Band 5.5)

In many nations around the globe, the population of people from the rural side are declining because rustic people are moving to cities, in my own opinion i think this is a negative development.

Firstly, not everyone have to live in the cities, some people have to stay at the countryside. If there is an increase in the number of people moving from the countryside to the urban side the facilities available might not be enough to cater for the excess people joining the cities. Schools will become crowded, not enough housing to cater for people, hospitals will be filled up e.t.c

When there is an increase of people in the cities, there follows a decrease of people in the countryside, and this will bring about less people having their own farmland to cultivate and rear animals, less people who are also meant to be paying taxes to improve the standard of living, facilities shutting down as there no people to work there or use them. There is also not going to be family unity.

For example, In the pennyselvnia countryside a lot of people migrated because there was a rumour that there was a serial killer, and when most of them migrated to the cities there was less people available in the rustic side, and this caused less production of farm produce and less internal revenue as since little amount of people were paying their tax. the countryside remained underdeveloped and most of the facilities was abandoned.

In conclusion, I think it's a negative development for people in the countryside to continue migrating to cities as this will cause a decrease in population for the countryside people.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses the prompt by clearly stating a negative position on rural depopulation and providing supporting arguments, such as urban overcrowding and the loss of agricultural production and tax revenue. However, the development of ideas remains somewhat superficial. For instance, the discussion on urban infrastructure strain is limited to listing examples like schools, housing, and hospitals without deep elaboration. Furthermore, the inclusion of a specific real-world example regarding a rumour of a serial killer in Pennsylvania feels overly anecdotal and lacks the broader socio-economic context typically expected in an Academic Task 2 response. Nonetheless, all parts of the prompt are addressed, fulfilling the requirements for Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay has a recognizable overall structure with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. However, cohesion is frequently mechanical and sometimes faulty. Sentences are often joined with commas rather than appropriate conjunctions or full stops, resulting in run-on sentences, as seen in the opening paragraph. Paragraphing is attempted, but the third body paragraph is extremely short and consists of a single continuous clause that lacks clear internal logical progression. Furthermore, cohesive devices are used repetitively, and referencing is occasionally vague, making the flow somewhat disjointed and harder to follow. This level of organization and cohesive control aligns best with Band 5.0 descriptors.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student displays a limited but minimally adequate range of vocabulary suitable for discussing the topic of urban migration. Words and phrases such as 'population', 'facilities', 'underdeveloped', and 'migrated' are used appropriately. However, there is a heavy reliance on repetitive terminology (such as repeating 'countryside', 'cities', and 'people' multiple times in close proximity). Furthermore, there are noticeable word choice and collocation issues, such as 'rural side' instead of 'rural areas' and 'rustic people' instead of 'rural residents'. Spelling is generally acceptable, but lexical limitations and frequent repetition cause some lack of precision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writing demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, though attempts at complex structures frequently contain grammatical inaccuracies. There are frequent errors in subject-verb agreement, such as 'the population of people from the rural side are declining' and 'not everyone have to live'. Punctuation is also weak, marked by run-on sentences and missing periods, particularly evident in phrases like 'tax. the countryside remained'. While communication is generally maintained and the reader can understand the intended meaning, the high frequency of grammatical slips prevents the essay from achieving a higher band score.

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